Hundreds rally against State Government’s plan to sell off rail network
Hundreds of people have protested against the State Government’s plan to privatise operation of Adelaide’s train and tram networks, with drivers fearing for their jobs.
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South Australian tram and train drivers fear their jobs will become insecure when the state’s rail network is privatised.
Hundreds of people gathered on the steps of parliament on Sunday to oppose the Liberal Government’s plans.
One train driver, who has worked in SA transport for 26 years, said safety standards would drop and jobs become insecure under the Liberals.
“We’ve seen it happen 20 years ago when they privatised the buses,” the worker said.
Fearing government reprimand, he chose to speak under the condition of anonymity.
“A lot of us, we actually strive to come and work in this industry, one of the reasons because it was also a government job,” he told AAP.
“We thought that would be secure and we would be able to spend the rest of our lives as a government worker.”
Another worker said a private company would just want to make a profit and send the money overseas.
“That’s going to cover jobs, wages and probably ticket prices,” he said.
They both said the government still has not properly explained how privatisation will affect them directly.
Opposition leader Peter Malinauskas spoke to the crowd, calling rail privatisation a “right-wing ideology”.
At the state Labor convention on Saturday, Mr Malinauskas promised to return the rail network into public hands, should the party be elected in 2022.
The announcement was dismissed by transport minister Stephan Knoll, who said it was a “desperate attempt to run away from rank hypocrisy”, referring to Labor’s privatisation of the Motor Accident Commission, the Lands Title Office and Forestry SA during its last period in government.
“The Labor government were a government that flogged off everything that moved,” he said.
Mr Knoll said the tram contract would run for eight years and is likely to be awarded next year, meaning Labor would have to terminate the agreement several years ahead of schedule.
“I think Peter Malinauskas has got massive questions to ask and massive questions to answer on how much this is going to cost taxpayers,” he said.
“Mr Malinauskas and Mr Koutsantonis should be judged on what they did when in government, not their empty hollow words.
‘How Labor can stand there with a straight face and say they are against privatisation when they flogged off $5bn in assets and outsourced $3bn in public transport services is beyond me.”
Labor treasury spokesman Tom Koutsantonis hit back on Sunday, saying none of those were essential services.
“Labor in its entire history has never privatised an essential service ever,” he said.
“I find it fascinating that Minister Knoll won’t defend his privatisation — he’s almost out there saying privatisation is bad.
“Well, if it’s bad for the Motor Accident Commission, then why is it good for the trains?”
Mr Koutsantonis said his “inexperience” is now showing.
He remains confident Labor can reverse the privatisation by appointing an independent commissioner to head an inquiry, if they are elected.
“When we were last in office, we reversed the privatisation of the Modbury Hospital — it’s not as hard as you think.”
